The first phase of KSCA’s much-awaited fifth edition T20 cricket tournament, the Karnataka Premier League scheduled to be held in Mysuru from September 16, has been shifted to Hubballi in view of the situation prevailing in this part of the region.
The KPL Governing Council, which met on Tuesday noon, decided to swap the phases between the two cities — Mysuru and Hubballi. The first phase matches will now be held at the KSCA Stadium in Rajnagar, Hubballi, a press release said here.
Consequent to the swapping of phases, the tournament will commence a day later, on September 17. The Hubballi leg will end on September 26.
Following a day of rest, the second and final phase will be in Mysuru from September 28 to October 2. This has caused the dates of the matches to be shifted by a day, with the resultant changes in schedule as well, the release said.
Thus, as per the revised schedule, Namma Shivamogga is now slated to play the tournament opener against home team Hubli Tigers in a morning match on Saturday.
On opening day
Three matches are planned for the opening day, with champions Bijapur Bulls playing the marquee match under lights against Belagavi Panthers. Barring Saturdays, there would be two matches a day on all days in the league phase.
The first match would start at 1.30 p.m. and the second match, to be played under lights, would start at 5.30 p.m. Saturdays have an additional match at 9.30 a.m., the release said. The final is to be staged under lights on October 2 in Mysuru.
KPL is an acknowledged nursery for Indian cricket and many IPL franchisees scout the tournament for fresh talent. A number of exciting talent, including Shiv Kaushik, K.C. Cariappa, Kishore Kamath, J. Suchith, besides Karun Nair, K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey, made waves in IPL after honing their skills in KPL, the release said.
All matches of the KPL 2016 will be telecast live on Sony Six.
